Wales Office

Employment: Older People

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what assessment he has made of trends in the level of (a) employment and (b) economic activity of over 65s in Wales in the last three years.

Alun Cairns: The latest labour market data shows the employment rate for over 65s in Wales was 9.8% for April 2018 to March 2019, down slightly from 10.0% for April 2015 to March 2016. The economic activity rate for over 65s in Wales also dropped slightly over the same period, from 10.1% to 9.9%.

Treasury

Debts: Repayments

Stella Creasy: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, when he plans to (a) implement the Statutory Debt Repayment Plan and (b) bring forward legislative proposals to compel all creditors that will benefit from Statutory Debt Repayment Plan to contribute towards funding it.

John Glen: The breathing space scheme, including administration of Statutory Debt Repayment Plans (SDRPs), will be funded from a share of the money paid to all creditors who benefit from repayments through SDRPs. The government intends to implement the breathing space in early 2021 and the SDRP to a longer timetable.

Exchange Rates

Dr Paul Williams: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the effect of changes in the value of the pound against the Euro on UK holidaymakers between the months of July and September 2019.

John Glen: It is not appropriate for the government to comment on specific currency market movements. The government accepts the market-based price of sterling and does not have a view on what level this should be. Moreover, speculating on the value of sterling could hurt confidence in our macroeconomic framework. It is important to remember that the UK’s macroeconomic framework is based on an inflation target, and it is for the independent Monetary Policy Committee to set monetary policy to meet this target.

Tax Avoidance: EU Law

Ian Murray: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he has taken to implement the EU's anti-tax avoidance directive into UK law by 1 January 2020; and if he will maintain that legislation in UK law after the UK leaves the EU.

Jesse Norman: The UK supports the EU Anti-Tax Avoidance Directive, which requires all Member States to adopt minimum standard rules that restrict the ability of large multinationals to artificially lower their tax bills. The UK already has anti-avoidance rules in place which in most cases meet or exceed the Directive’s requirements. Finance Act 2019 introduced several technical changes which help ensure our existing rules will be compliant with the approach taken by the Anti-Tax Avoidance Directive by 1 January 2020.

Companies: Pay

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the total payroll is of companies in England that have a payroll (a) over and (b) under £3 million.

Jesse Norman: It is not possible to produce meaningful estimates of the paybills of employers in specific geographical areas. HMRC has information on where Pay As You Earn (PAYE) schemes are registered, though not on the workplaces of the employer. Many large employers will have various workplaces across the UK and will operate multiple PAYE schemes, or outsource their payroll to a payroll provider based in a different location.